Bryce Harper launched his 10th homer of the season in the fifth inning.

Game in a nutshell: It may have been delayed 25 hours by rain, but the opener of this big, interleague series didn't disappoint. Jordan Zimmermann and Anibal Sanchez went toe-to-toe, with Zimmermann out-dueling his right-hnaded counterpart thanks to seven innings of one-run ball. Bryce Harper drove in a pair of runs, one of them on a homer well into the right-field bleachers. Aggressive baserunning by Adam LaRoche — yes, Adam LaRoche — forced Torii Hunter into a throwing error and produced another run. Tyler Clippard fired every bullet he had at the fearsome Tigers lineup during a 34-pitch top of the eighth, somehow escaping without allowing a run. And Rafael Soriano finished it off for his 11th save in 12 tries, giving the Nationals their third straight victory … and first-ever in 20 starts against Sanchez.

Hitting highlight: Harper had been in a bit of a slump over his last eight games (3-for-26) and some of that may have beenRead more »

We beat Anibel. And Omar didn't hurt us tonight, like he has in the past. And neither did Miggy or Prince. ALR is back in business and so is The Kid. All in all, a really good night. And congrats to Rick Eckstein, a new Dad.

Julie's not bad, but I just know she knows enough about baseball to avoid that formulation. Maybe it takes me back too much to the days of DebbieT. It should be easier to come up with more game-specific questions than that. Harrumph. With that, and a brilliant Nats win, I go to bed.

Mark Z writes… Zimmermann now leads the NL with six wins, and his 1.59 ERA ranks third only to the Cardinals' Jake Westbook and the Mets' Matt Harvey________________________6-1 record now and a 1.59 ERA. Hard to believe 2 pitchers have better ERAs but that Matt Harvey is good and he is getting all the calls from the umps. JZ got screwed in 2 at-bats tonight.

Joe Seamhead said… Listening to Johnson it sounds as if no Jayson Werth for a couple of days. Davey says he'll play Bernadina tomorrow. May 08, 2013 11:12 PM ______________________________Bernadina with another key defensive play in the 9th!

In low-scoring games against the best teams, the little things make all the difference. Tonight, (1) Span turns a double into a triple, so the Harper SF scores him, (2) LaRoche goes to third on a fly out to Hunter, scores on the error on the throw, (3) Desmond gets to a couple of grounders that could have eaten him up, and then who knows? Harper's HR was the only no-doubt run. Huge difference for them pitching ahead 2-1 and 3-1. All the little things they didn't do early in the season are back in synch, at least most of the time, now. And still not close to all cylinders hitting.

"The ball was effectively thrown out of the field of play allowing each runner a base."Right. I guess I worded that too specifically. Why isn't the ball just dead at that point and runners have to hold? Basically, what's the logic behind the rule?

Eric,first, here is the rule:a runner advances:(f) Two bases, if a fair ball bounces or is deflected into the stands outside the first or third base foul lines; or if it goes through or under a field fence, or through or under a scoreboard, or through or under shrubbery or vines on the fence; or if it sticks in such fence, scoreboard, shrubbery or vines;(g) Two bases when, with no spectators on the playing field, a thrown ball goes into the stands, or into a bench (whether or not the ball rebounds into the field), or over or under or through a field fence, or on a slanting part of the screen above the backstop, or remains in the meshes of a wire screen protecting spectators. The ball is dead. When such wild throw is the first play by an infielder, the umpire, in awarding such bases, shall be governed by the position of the runners at the time the ball was pitched; in all other cases the umpire shall be governed by the position of the runners at the time the wild throw was made;APPROVED RULING: If all runners, including the batter-runner, have advanced at least one base when an infielder makes a wild throw on the first play after the pitch, the award shall be governed by the position of the runners when the wild throw was made.

Interesting. I guess I find myself wondering why a dead ball results in awarded bases for the runner. Is it because a fielder could hypothetically kill as ball by throwing it out of play? Something like that?This is getting very esoteric, but I just wonder about this kind of thing.MASN is having as very interesting Harper segment right now.

Eric, I think that the rule is there because if the camera well or dugout were not there, the ball would be in play, and the runner could make a decision to run or not. Similar to the man-made obstacle/impediment rule in golf perhaps?

I think that is a good take on the rule, ehay. If Espinosa had already been on 2nd the ump could have advanced him 2 bases, resulting in a second run scored.I only saw where ALR was, I assume Danny hadn't advanced to second on Hunter's throw, at least not before the ball went out of play, thus explaining why he ended up on third.

What a great game. Superb pitching from JZnn. And boy does he move the game along. And Harper truly gets situational hitting. Man on third, he's going to drive him in. But bases empty, sit on that breaking pitch and crush it. So cool to see that shot in person from behind the plate. Really nice catch by the Shark in the 9th.. I didn't even realize he was in the game. Nice move by Davey to put him in the right place at the right time. His defense has really paid dividends in the last few games. Finally, great to see Sofa in the house. We untucked with gusto, as did quite a few people in our section. We even made it onto the Jumbotron, after the untucking!

Heard Phil Wood mention this after the game…Jordan Zimmermann hasn't lost at home for over a calendar year (as of next start)…9-0…pretty darn good. Hopefully Stras and Gio are watching what it looks like to "pitch"…those two are just exhausting to watch lately. Work fast and throw strikes…should be pretty easy with their stuff yet they make it soooo complicated.

And when Jordan does not get calls he does not react at all. He just throws another pitch. Stras and Gio can be a bit high strung. Great night at the game – surrounded by Tiger fans, but they were fun. No rain, a Nats win, JZ on the hill, Bryce bomb and a shark special. All the right ingredients. We sure do have that sac fly RBI thing down at this point. A run is a run.